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**Small Towns, Big Crowds: Policing Tourist Destinations**
August 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 7

Tourists do the darndest things: leave hotel room doors  propped open, wade into traffic with eyes fixed on cell phones, and climb lamp  posts to take selfies, to name a few. They sometimes feel as if local laws and  safety precautions don’t apply when they’re on holiday. Or, as one police chief  remarked, “Some leave their brains at home when they go on vacation.”

In addition to being easy prey for criminals, out-of-towners  seldom report crime, much less testify against a suspect. They can also cause serious  problems themselves, usually by disregarding traffic laws or becoming drunk and  disorderly, but occasionally by engaging in criminal activity. 

 All of this can make policing tourist destinations challenging—especially  in small towns, such as beach or mountain resorts, whose populations may grow  ten- or even hundredfold in peak season. Dealing with the additional load on  their services and personnel may not be easy, but many local departments have  found ways to keep both visitors and community safe and happy while not  breaking the bank. 
 Extra Eyes and Ears  for the Force Police Chief Geody VanDewater, Sturgis (South Dakota) Police Department
Community policing is especially important in these  destinations, where police rely on hotel clerks, bartenders, boutique owners, and  others who are on the front line of the tourist scene to be their eyes and  ears. In Sturgis, South Dakota, which holds a ten day motorcycle rally and  music festival that attracts around 500,000 additional people to the town of 7,000  every July, Police Chief Geody VanDewater holds a pre-rally meeting with bars  and liquor establishments. 

 “I want to have working relationships with  these individuals so that if I have issues, or they do, we have direct contact  with each other,” he says. There have been shootings in these bars, and their staff  have helped the department by giving statements. They have their own security,  but rely on us to remove intoxicated and unruly patrons.”

 ”Community policing is important to us in other ways too,”  VanDewater adds. “We encourage our officers to have friendly interaction with  tourists as well as locals, and they do interact, chatting and taking pictures  with people. They enjoy doing it too because pretty much everybody is friendly  during the rally.”
 Internships for Seasonal  Officers 
Augmenting their forces with seasonal personnel is another  response to tourist needs. In addition to being less costly—often these  individuals are non-paid volunteers—they allow departments to keep full-time  officers on their beats. Cape May, New Jersey, a beach resort****with a year-round local population of  about 5,400 that grows to around 60,000 in summer, is one example. To expand  its police force of 25 officers, the department hires students for two  different levels of policing services, both of which qualify for internship  credit at their colleges. 

 Class One Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEO I) are  trained and empowered to issue summonses for parking and local ordinance  enforcement, and for minor incidents such as disorderly behavior, but they do  not carry a firearm. While employed, Class Two Seasonal Law Enforcement  Officers (SLEO II) have the authority and arrest powers of fulltime police  officers, and they carry a firearm. Most SLEOs are studying criminal justice  and all get credit for the internship from their colleges.
 Off Duty Cops and  Safety Ambassadors  
 The Sturgis  Police Department usually hires 15 volunteer officers, who come in from all  over the country to work full-time during the rally. Some are employed by other  agencies and take leave to do this; others are retired. According to Chief VanDewater,  they come for the camaraderie. “One guy has been doing this for 41 years,” he  says. “To recruit, we put the word out through emails, in social media, and in  local fusion centers. We outfit them with grey polo shirts and feed them, but  they work for the fun of it.”

 Though they are not employees of the Grand  Rapids (Michigan) Police Department, Safety Ambassadors hired by Downtown  Grand Rapids, Inc. and managed by the Block  by Block Company are assets to the department. Block by Block provides  safety, cleaning, and outreach services to downtown improvement districts in  customizable programs, which Grand Rapids adapted to their public safety needs.

 Many of their Ambassadors receive training in skills such as  physical and mental health first aid, treating drug overdoses, and spotting sex  trafficking. Though not trained to intervene in crime, they have been credited  with stopping a potential burglary and a domestic abuse situation. Just as  importantly, they know how to be good witnesses and call the police for assistance  or to report a crime. According to Rebecca Krenz, Operations Manager of the Downtown  Grand Rapids Ambassador Program, “We're feet on the streets and often first  on the scene when things happen.”  
 Recruitment and  Housing Options
Students in criminal justice programs are good candidates  for seasonal employment programs, and Chief Anthony Marino of the Cape May City Police Department says “Facebook is a good way to reach them. We also use an online recruiting  and hire program called policeapp.com.  The state police academy advertises SLEO II positions too, and like many  departments, we reach out directly to local colleges and attend job fairs.” 

 Yet recruitment isn’t always easy, even in desirable  vacation locations. A big obstacle is housing. The Ocean City (Maryland)  Police Departmental Housing Program leases homes, which they sublease at  cost to seasonal employees. They also have a Housing Alternatives List, with  contact information for departmental officers, officers from other agencies,  and friends of the department with houses or rooms for rent. Another option is  their Facebook group, where seasonal employees can discuss housing and find  roommates. 
 Sources for Financial  Support
While providing services for tourists may require increased  resources, revenue from room and meal taxes help pay for them. In addition,  some local attractions pay directly for security services. Busch  Gardens Williamsburg and Water  Country USA, two amusement parks in York-Poquoson County, Virginia, contract  with the sheriff’s office for the services of off-duty deputies to work in the resorts  and their parking lots. 

 There are additional sources for funding as well. Chief  Marino of the Cape May Police Department suggests trying foundations supported  by various companies. “The WaWa Foundation, which  supports a Heroes Award, provided funding for load bearing vests for our  officers, to lessen the load on their duty belts, which can cause back  programs. Companies like that may fund other needs. It may be possible to find someone  in the community to do research and writing for grant funding.”

 In some cities and larger resort destinations, tourist  boards fund law enforcement efforts to maintain public safety. According to a  June 4, 2018 article in the *Tennessean* newspaper, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp provides its city police  department with an annual grant of $100,000 to ensure tourist safety, and also  pays for police overtime at special events. 

 In Nevada, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority funds  an analyst at the Las  Vegas Metro Police Department’s  Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center who is responsible for sharing safety  information from the police department with the tourism community, and acts as a  liaison between event producers, resort partners, and local public safety  agencies.1
 The Bottom Line
 Tourism is a growing source of employment and revenue  throughout our country. According to the U.S. Travel Association, direct  spending by domestic and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $3  billion a day for a total of $1.1 trillion in 2018. According to the  association’s Travel Impact  Calculator, the economic impact of a 4.95 percent increase in 2019 travel  spending could result in almost $4 billion in additional state and local tax  revenues, which could fund the hiring of an additional 60,300 American law  enforcement officers.

 What’s more, the benefits of tourism extend beyond the  revenue, to the interactions that all members of the community, including law  enforcement officers, have with people from all over the U.S. and the world.  Like other members of the community, the men and women in blue are ambassadors  for their towns and for our country, and their contacts with travelers can  leave a positive lasting impression.  

 Tourism will continue to pose challenges as it grows, but  creative approaches to meeting them will open new opportunities for  relationships and collaboration within and outside of their community—a win-win  for everybody.

 Faye Elkins        Sr. Technical Writer
 Sources for More Information
Planning  and Managing Security for Major Special Events: Training CurriculaPlanning  and Managing Security for Major Special Events: Guidelines for Law Enforcement

References:1. https://skift.com/2018/07/16/tourism-boards-offer-funding-to-city-police-departments-to-boost-security/

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The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

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